"One part The Beauty Myth . . . and one part Backlash"*--a provocative exploration of who and what a wife really is.
There is a wife... read full description
There is a wife... read full description
reviews
Jun 12, 2009
Sarah
rated it: 
Every woman should read this, married or single, because being a woman meant being a wife for much of our culture's history.
Despite the funny cover, I was worried this book would be too academic and difficult to read or that is would be prescriptive and tell me what to think, both turnoffs. While it is dense it is easy to read, and very thought-provoking without feeling heavy-handed. When you thoroughly investigate all the implications of "wife," past and present, you have More...
Despite the funny cover, I was worried this book would be too academic and difficult to read or that is would be prescriptive and tell me what to think, both turnoffs. While it is dense it is easy to read, and very thought-provoking without feeling heavy-handed. When you thoroughly investigate all the implications of "wife," past and present, you have More...
Dec 16, 2009
Stephanie / seenonflickr
rated it:
I've been reading this book off and on for months now, and I finished it last night. I can't decide how I feel about it. I kind of enjoyed reading it, and yet it kind of made me angry about the way the world (Western world, at least) treats both married and single women, and the institution of the "WIFE".
It kind of made me want to get married and defy the stereotypes, and then it made me want to not get married EVER.
I will be checking out some of the sources lis More...
It kind of made me want to get married and defy the stereotypes, and then it made me want to not get married EVER.
I will be checking out some of the sources lis More...
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Jun 09, 2011
Alex
rated it: 
I really enjoyed this book. The book explores the role of the wife in society from a historical perspective and does a very good job illustrating how that role has changed over time. I think I found the book interesting because I was able to compare my views on a wife and marriage to the views the author has. I have to say that being a 17 year old “man” that my perspective on my life as it relates to marriage is dramatically different than the perspective author has. The author speaks of a time
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Sep 15, 2009
Amy
rated it: 
This is one of those books that when you finish it, you feel both wiser for the journey and completely sickened by what you've read. I recommend it for women, who need to get in touch with the history of female ownership throughout time, and I recommend it for men to get a sense of exactly what has been ingrained into the female psyche.
I will admit that it is at times, quite harsh, but like many books of this ilk, sometimes you have to read the extreme in order to better gauge the ma More...
I will admit that it is at times, quite harsh, but like many books of this ilk, sometimes you have to read the extreme in order to better gauge the ma More...
Mar 27, 2011
Heidi
rated it:
The book is very well researched and covers a lot of interesting angles of the topic of "wife" especially various movements (1950s housewives, to 1990s shoulderpadded career women to the new concept of "trophy husbands") but the book is very dense so you cannot read it very quickly.
I was disappointed that it doesn't offer much in the way of solutions, the final chapter does some summarizing but it's too little too late. Also I feel like the book really limited itse More...
I was disappointed that it doesn't offer much in the way of solutions, the final chapter does some summarizing but it's too little too late. Also I feel like the book really limited itse More...
Apr 21, 2010
Platoeatssouls
rated it:
A good book on the history of marriage and women in marriage. Not the best book to read a month before you get married (oops). A good book to read if you want to be happy being a single woman.
I wish she'd written it about six years later (it came out in 2004 or 2005) so she could talk about current trends like the whole giant families tv show thing (The Duggars, Jon + Kate et al) and Desperate Housewives. I also wish she'd gone into more depth about gay marriage and the role of wo More...
I wish she'd written it about six years later (it came out in 2004 or 2005) so she could talk about current trends like the whole giant families tv show thing (The Duggars, Jon + Kate et al) and Desperate Housewives. I also wish she'd gone into more depth about gay marriage and the role of wo More...
Apr 02, 2010
Jennifer
rated it: 
http://allthingsjennifer.wordpress.com/2...
Personally, I felt like this book didn't give me much new information, not sure what I was expecting. I put it down a few weeks ago and honestly didn't think I would pick it back up. But this morning I did (by accident, grabbed the wrong book but didn't want to get back out of bed) and well, I finished it.
I tend to be the person who follows this sort of topic via magazine articles, other books...and I even realized from my law sch More...
Personally, I felt like this book didn't give me much new information, not sure what I was expecting. I put it down a few weeks ago and honestly didn't think I would pick it back up. But this morning I did (by accident, grabbed the wrong book but didn't want to get back out of bed) and well, I finished it.
I tend to be the person who follows this sort of topic via magazine articles, other books...and I even realized from my law sch More...
Aug 04, 2009
meosima
rated it:
I've picked up this book before. But because I'm surrounded by the engaged and newly-married, I felt like I should try it again.
There's this ... almost irrational anger I sometimes feel toward the wedding industry, and I've felt it ever since I registered countless brides and grooms at Williams-Sonoma. Maybe my feelings aren't irrational...
But regardless, I've never understood the advent of the bride-as-commodity, $1,000,000 wedding extravaganzas, the 'cake-must-match-th More...
There's this ... almost irrational anger I sometimes feel toward the wedding industry, and I've felt it ever since I registered countless brides and grooms at Williams-Sonoma. Maybe my feelings aren't irrational...
But regardless, I've never understood the advent of the bride-as-commodity, $1,000,000 wedding extravaganzas, the 'cake-must-match-th More...
Feb 06, 2008
Michele
rated it:
Provocative Cover, Intellectual Text
Author Anne Kingston deserves five stars-plus for her exhaustive research and objective presentation of the subject. The Meaning of Wife, which is by no means a quick or light read, is well written, engaging, thought provoking and entertaining. If you are a wife, you'll find yourself somewhere in these pages. If you're not a wife, you may recognize your mother or your friends, or the woman you call your wife.
Kingston covers all the bas More...
Author Anne Kingston deserves five stars-plus for her exhaustive research and objective presentation of the subject. The Meaning of Wife, which is by no means a quick or light read, is well written, engaging, thought provoking and entertaining. If you are a wife, you'll find yourself somewhere in these pages. If you're not a wife, you may recognize your mother or your friends, or the woman you call your wife.
Kingston covers all the bas More...
Jan 20, 2010
LizG
rated it:
An in-depth read on the history of the lauded institution of marriage that showcases it for what it has been and in many cultures still is. And don't go looking overseas. Only 15+ years ago I was encouraged to stay in an abusive relationship because "marriage is sacred." I decided my continued existence was also sacred and chose life over the institution.
We're not that far from the day when women were nothing but property, best be on our toes to ensure we continue forward
We're not that far from the day when women were nothing but property, best be on our toes to ensure we continue forward
Aug 02, 2010
Kerry
rated it: 
Man, I only got like 50 pages in and this is BO-RING. Again, no sense of humor? At all? Seriously?
The title is taken far too literally (except for the "provacative" part.) It's like a super-sized essay on how the role of "wife" has changed over the years, and the contradictory things it can mean today. Gee, thanks, I've been an alive feminist with a computer for the past twenty-odd years, I know . . . stuff. Like what you just said.
Bo to the ring.
The title is taken far too literally (except for the "provacative" part.) It's like a super-sized essay on how the role of "wife" has changed over the years, and the contradictory things it can mean today. Gee, thanks, I've been an alive feminist with a computer for the past twenty-odd years, I know . . . stuff. Like what you just said.
Bo to the ring.
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Jul 15, 2009
Emily
rated it:
A well-researched testament to why I find traditional marriage, wedding rings, and replacing your own name with your spouse's absurd.
Women who rarely find themselves fitting "in the box" will appreciate this book.
Women who have never stopped to question why they want the things they want (or what they're told they should want) should read this book.
Women who rarely find themselves fitting "in the box" will appreciate this book.
Women who have never stopped to question why they want the things they want (or what they're told they should want) should read this book.
May 16, 2010
Amy L.
rated it:
Kingston looks at the institution of marriage, the role of wife, and the transition that occurs from single woman to engaged to married. There is a focus on how advertising and pop culture in the current and continued stereotype of the wife. I was a little disappointed that the author decided to use end notes rather than foot notes. I would have liked to have been able to track what information she got from where a little better. Still, not a bad read for someone considering the role of wife
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Sep 05, 2008
Rachelle
rated it:
Absolutely love this cover and I enjoyed holding it on the bus. The essays in this book are very well researched and written. Even though Kingston doesn't come to any conclusions about what one should or shouldn't think/do/be as a wife, she asks many thought-provoking (often rhetorical) questions. Is the power in making the choice to marry or not? To love a full-time career versus a desire to stay home and raise a family? How about being proud of being a wife and supporting the institution (and
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Mar 01, 2010
Lauren
rated it:
I count my blessings, so to speak, that I was born when I was and get to live in this time, in this place, when my decisions are my own and my life is mine. I can't thank my parents enough for enabling me to tell the bullshit from the worthwhile, and to have opinions of me own without falling for the 'everybody's doing it' trends and popularity contents. This book reminds me of how happy I am that I'm a stubborn, contrary bitch.
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Sep 17, 2011
Leah
rated it:
I couldn't get past the third chapter. I tried. It wasn't at all "provocative" - apprently you CANT judge a book by its cover. I was thinking it would be witty and fun. Yeah, no. It's not. I'm not much of a feminist, and I'm newly married and I just couldn't get into it. It all seemed like harsh generalizations strung along to form paragraphs that pretty much just bashed modern-women. At least that's my take. I tried to keep reading but it sat on my nightstand for weeks, untouched, so
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Aug 23, 2010
Asferdinand
rated it:
Should have been called "The meaning of white, middle-to-upper class straight American wife." Because really, who else even counts? Interesting other than that, though.
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Sep 14, 2010
Kim
rated it:
A good discussion on modern women and their role in marriage. I set down the book half-way through because I was starting to feel radical/feminist/oppressed. The ideas in the book might be a bit radical, but also seeds of truth. For example, the commercial I saw a few days ago where the woman marries a man because of his awesome kitchen faucet, or how a friend's husband complains about cooking every day because he's in between jobs at the moment and his wife is taking on the role of bread winner
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Jan 22, 2009
Allison
rated it:
every woman who is married or who is getting married MUST READ THIS BOOK! absolutely amazing, somewhat infuriating. the best women's studies book i've ever read.
May 11, 2011
Judy
rated it:
Great look at wives in culture, and very provocative. Does not have good 'solutions' or tie things together, but still worthwhile.
May 20, 2009
Rosy
rated it:
I like this book and wish I read it before I got married, right when I got engaged. It articulated many of the things I was feeling but was completely unable to express. I also liked the fact that while she could have made this an extremely angry and anti-man manifesto, she was very forgiving of the male gender, leaning towards a definition of wife that was free of gender at all.
However, I didn't like the cover, it makes it look like a chick-lit novel.
However, I didn't like the cover, it makes it look like a chick-lit novel.
Aug 06, 2011
Rosanne
rated it:
An interesting look at how marriage relates to women. Is the institution of marriage still relevant?
Sep 21, 2008
Denise
rated it:
Appears to be well-written and well-researched, but about two-thirds through I couldn't take any more. Apparently the implications of the word and position "wife" lead to confusion and dissatisfaction for the majority of women. Is their any value for us to read of the plight of the wife as an abstract figure? Each person is different, whether her struggles come from her submission to a husband or desire to maintain an independent identity but be married. By lumping all women (or wives)
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Jan 17, 2011
Suzanne
rated it:
This book is a rather sluggish comentary on the social, sexual, historical and economic viewpoint of wifehood.
Dec 16, 2009
Maggie
rated it:
This was a well written feminist work. For anyone who thinks this is telling women never to marry (since it is heavily feminist), it doesn't. The point I gained from this book was that we, as individuals and as a society on a whole, need to work to redefine the term "wife" so it reflects not only our present but our future as well.
Jul 20, 2011
I contemplated "removing from my books". Then I figured it was better to scratch it off and note what Emily said about it, so as not to bother adding it again.
"865568 It starts and ends with Princess Diana, which was too much for me, and I feel like she tried to cover too much. Sort of academic but not enough and too academic to be a light read. I feel like The Feminine Mistake, which I read just before this one, covered it better and had more lines for me to quote ou More...
"865568 It starts and ends with Princess Diana, which was too much for me, and I feel like she tried to cover too much. Sort of academic but not enough and too academic to be a light read. I feel like The Feminine Mistake, which I read just before this one, covered it better and had more lines for me to quote ou More...
Jan 11, 2012
Katie
rated it:
It's an easy read, which is good-- because the chapters are a little disorganized. I wish it had a more coherent line through it, but I'd still recommend it. The stars it got are for looking at stuff in a way I'd never seen before, and asking a lot of good questions. The stars it didn't get were for a sorta clunky style and the repetition. But! It is a worthwhile read for people who are interested in the questions it poses about feminism and gender roles, especially as far as marriage and the wo
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Dec 16, 2009
Jackie
rated it:
At first, I LOVED this book but after a while it became very laborsome to read. It was like fact afte fact after fact and there often wasn't much 'meat' holding it together.
When she was weaving all the data together is where I felt the book was strongest and the most provacative.
Overall, definately worth reading for the subject matter alone but sometimes you may need to force yourself through chapters or passages.
When she was weaving all the data together is where I felt the book was strongest and the most provacative.
Overall, definately worth reading for the subject matter alone but sometimes you may need to force yourself through chapters or passages.
Aug 12, 2008
Mari
rated it:
Absolutely loved this book. It's so academic and full of references. I found myself wanting to take notes as I was reading it. So definitely something I'll keep around as I continue my exploration of what it means to be a wife (as a personal quest I suppose). Highly recommend even to non-wives.
